HC Deb 22 May 1958 vol 588 cc1481-3
11. Mr. G. Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to the complaints about conditions in Cardiff Prison, details of which have been sent to him by the hon. Member for Cardiff, West; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Renton

My right hon. Friend has investigated the statements made to the Press by a former prisoner who served part of his sentence in Cardiff Prison, to which the hon. Member refers. He is satisfied that they do not give an accurate account of conditions in the prison, or of the manner in which the staff performs its difficult and exacting duties.

Mr. Thomas

While thanking the hon. and learned Gentleman for that reply, may I ask him whether he is aware that these complaints had such publicity in South Wales that it was in the interests of everyone concerned that a statement should be made? I hope that the most thorough investigation has been undertaken, because the public have little opportunity of knowing what basis there is for charges of this sort.

Mr. Renton

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the Prison Commissioners, my right hon. Friend and myself have all looked into this case most thoroughly and carefully. In the first place, I can assure him that the prison library is stocked with books, mainly supplied by the Cardiff City Library; that there is a plentiful supply of light reading, that the position is not as the prisoner said, and that there is no record of complaints about the Library. As to the second of the allegations, the food provided in the prison is on the same rationing scale as that provided in other prisons. I hope that, by this Answer, I have been able to assure the hon. Member, and anyone else who is anxious, that conditions in Cardiff Prison are not as the prisoner stated.

Mr. J. Griffiths

Would not the hon. and learned Gentleman agree that in view of the widespread publicity that has been given throughout the Principality to the charges made by this man, who is well known, and in the interests of maintaining confidence in the Prison Service, it is very necessary that the Home Office should issue a detailed statement in reply to this man's allegations?

Mr. D. Jones

Can the Under-Secretary assure the House that the information that he has just given was obtained from an impartial source, and not based on evidence supplied by officials of the Cardiff Prison?

Mr. Renton

Of necessity, the information that is obtained on an occasion like this has to be obtained through the Prison Commissioners, but I have no reason to suppose that the Commissioners are other than impartial in the discharge of their duties.